Dog Days
by RainSonata
Summary: Chung spent much of his life being the smallest, so he was less than thrilled to the discovery that he was short again. Becoming Aisha's guinea pig was not what he had in mind. For the writing prompt "Turning an Elsword character into an animal".


**Fandom/Pairing:** Elsword; none  
 **Rating:** K+  
 **Word Count:** 4,559

 **Summary:** Chung spent much of his life being the smallest, so he was less than thrilled to the discovery that he was short again. Becoming Aisha's guinea pig was not what he had in mind.

 **Note:** This is for the writing prompt "Turning an Elsword character into an animal".

* * *

 _Classes:_

Fatal Phantom  
Oz Sorcerer  
Timonia and Abysser (Catastrophe)  
Aspara, Code Ultimate, Daybreaker  
Furious Blade, Flame Lord  
Rune Master  
Bluhen  
Dominator

* * *

Closer to the ground, everything looked bigger. There was no fear in his revelation, he was the opposite of that. The Fatal Phantom's mind was all but a blur, close to a panic.

He felt the smooth texture of the wood embedded into the guild house he shared with his teammates. The bright flames from the fireplace roared, a hungry beast consuming the logs fed by Elsword when the fire swordsman passed by. There was chattering from all the rooms around him, too many voices and smells orchestrating in the background for Chung to hear his own thoughts. A crazed look played across his features.

" _That weapon upgrade isn't enough?" Aisha closed her book to look at him. He was glad to see that the dark mage wasn't quick to judge him, or question why he chose to come to her first thing in the morning._

" _You're the alchemist of our team," Chung argued. He trusted her to understand where he was coming from with this new request. "Surely you have something that can improve my speed and agility in battle."_

" _Well, there's something I've been testing..."_

What in the name of Elrios was Aisha working on?

Amid the confusion, he ran out of the room where they kept the alchemy tools when he fell to his knees. He was on his fours and yelped when he saw the paws, gold fuzz covering his body and the sound that came out of his mouth. What was that noise he just made? A high pitch whine rose from the top of his lungs into a howl.

 _I'm a dog!_

Chung shot a glare at the emptied bottle at his feet and growled. It was that damn potion! What was he thinking when he agreed to test it out for Aisha? He whimpered when he nudged the bottle to discover that it smelled like an acidic fruit. Huh… he didn't recall detecting that scent when he was human.

"Did you hear that, Ciel?"

A demon girl appeared in the hallway. She blinked when she saw Chung laying on the floor with his ears flat, her arm stretched out in reach for him.

"Careful, Lu. You don't know if it will bite." A taller demon in a blue suit and a cap to match appeared behind Lu when he spotted Chung.

Lu giggled, "Nonsense! No dog will bite the demon queen!"

He was less than comfortable being in the same team with Timonia and Abysser due to them being demons, but... It was hard for Chung to protest, let alone show distaste when it felt so nice to have someone scratch him behind the ears. That couldn't be good, Chung thought when he wagged his tail. He shouldn't be adjusting with such ease.

"Who brought it in?" Ciel thought out loud, "Although it's pretty cute."

Chung froze when Ciel joined in with Lu and started petting him as well. His nerves were bunched up, ecstatic even, at the attention he was getting. It was like he was in high heaven. No, he needs to get away from them. Chung barked and pulled himself away, ducking his head under his paws spread out.

He overhead Lu grumble, "How rude."

If the dog instincts had it its way, it would have stayed there all day until it ran out of pats and hugs to get high on. Aisha wasn't in her lab when he went to look for her. Where did she go? If he spent another few hours as a dog, he was going to lose his mind being unable to use his thumbs. He better find the dark mage to undo this mess before things got worse.

* * *

His brain was flooded with many senses when Chung crashed into the kitchen with his head planted into the floor, his hind legs spread out with his tail squashed. Bubbles gurgled from the closed pot setting on the cooking stove, each pop snapping in his ears and made his ears perk up each time. His nose twitched when he pressed it against the tiled floors to find roasted corn beef he identified. He thought he had a big breakfast hours ago, but that no longer mattered

Running on his fours was harder than it looked. His claws made a rhythmic sound when he skid over the smooth surface with his hind legs barely keeping up with his front ones. Shaking his head from the dizziness, his ears perked up when he overhead Ara talking over the counter.

"Hey, didn't Aisha say she was looking for a dog?" Awe appeared on Ara's soft features. "I didn't know she liked dogs."

' _Like' would be an overshoot,_ Chung said dryly.

Perhaps it was his bias against demons and the like, but he couldn't help but question Angkor's influence over Aisha. She let out a quiet chuckle when he asked her about the potion, eager to see what effect it would have on her newfound guinea pig. It will make him stronger, right? Strengthening potion, his as-

"Aspara, would it be illogical to let him wander on his own?" A humanoid nasod clad in black asked.

Ara laughed, "Eve, I'm still me. Call me by my real name!" She ruffled Chung's head and played with his pointy ears, "Isn't he the cutest?"

The blue outlines in Eve's clothes shone when she gave Chung a cold stare that made the Seiker prince's blood freeze. He thought the nasod queen recognized him when she slowly blinked at him, but she remained silent. If she cared about a dog being in the kitchen, she sure didn't show it.

"The human concept of cute is inconsistent," Eve said with little emotion. "They categorize small animals like cats or dogs to be cute, but Caskeys are small and they don't consider them to be cute. Why is that?"

"Well, um." Ara turned pink and stuttered, "I guess some people don't like Caskeys because of their sharp teeth. I mean, dogs have sharp teeth too, but… I'm don't know, actually!"

"Are you hungry?" An elf woman spoke up. Rena was talking to him!

A platter of sandwiches sat between her and Ara at the countertop, a lineup of meat and pickled vegetables sandwiched between bread slices. When she talked to Chung, she lowered herself so that she was at his level. The kindness in her eyes made him feel like a child again.

It was a simple question, but it made Chung guilty. Despite the concern Ara and Rena showed, it was different, like they were strangers. Everything about this felt wrong. Standing on his hind legs, Chung had his front paws against the kitchen counter to get their attention.

 _I wasn't a dog! I'm your teammate, Chung!_

He yelled this to them, but his words came out as barks and whines when he expressed his distress.

"He's been making a lot of noises since he came," Rena noted and beamed. "You're very chatty, aren't you?"

The voice the Daybreaker used was high pitch, emphasizing certain words and raising her intonation as she spoke. It was like she was talking to a baby. It made Chung uncomfortable, but the dog instincts in him was delighted and even wagged his tail.

Rena grabbed a sandwich from the plate to pull out a slice of boiled chicken to offer to him. It wasn't corn beef, but its savory smell made him salivate and impatient when she made him wait for it. She broke the meat it into smaller pieces to let Chung eat from her hand. He was surprised how easy it was to chew threw it when he always found chicken to be dry and chewy.

"We should ask Raven to look after him," Ara said. "I'm afraid he'll run off when we leave for our mission after lunch."

Rena nodded, "I think Elesis and Add are home today, so he can stay with them until Aisha comes back. Eve?"

"That would be appropriate," Eve said.

He could live with that, Chung decided. If there was anyone in the team he would prefer to be under the hands of, it would be with Raven. The Furious Blade was stern, but reasonable and was willing to lend an ear if needed. Maybe he needed a responsible adult to help him in this inconvenient situation.

* * *

The smell of sharp grass and bark heightened Chung's awareness of the training grounds when he laid on his stomach. A dark-haired man easily twice his height kneeled to rest his blade against the tree trunk to look at Chung. Serious as always, it was difficult to know what was on Raven's mind.

"Looks like one of those spitz from Hamel," Raven said **(1)**. "They used to assign them to us to train them before using them on the battlefield to track people and find them."

"You don't need to explain stuff I already know!" Elesis's tattoos gleamed under the sunlight when the Flame Lord crossed her arms and grinned.

Chung was surprised at this new piece of information. Hamel did something similar, but favored the use of Hamelings for their intelligence and ability to track magic as well. It made sense for Velder to use dogs when Hamelings were not native and would be expensive to import.

"Stand."

Chung blinked, looking up at Raven in confusion, unsure if he heard himself right. Stand?

Pushing one hand against his knees to stand, Raven got up to demonstrate, gesturing Chung to do the same by. Grabbing Chung by the paws, he prompted him onto his fours. When Chung obeyed, he was rewarded with an awkward pat on the back and a piece of meat from the palm of his hand. Chung was disappointed when he learned that it was a dried piece of meat, a type of jerky from last week's. Was Raven trying to train him? Chung gave him a hard-eyed look.

 _I'm not a dog!_

"Good boy," Raven smiled and placed one gloved hand on his back again. "Sit."

Chung sunk back into the grass and grumbled at the situation he found himself in. Okay, he was a dog by physical terms, but he was still human! Young, but now an adult since last month, Chung thought. He was not a pet or a military dog to be told what to do!

Yet, he was compliant when Raven rewarded him again for his obedience and when the Furious Blade pulled his paw out for 'Shake'. He felt like he was performing parlor tricks for the sake of entertainment. Why wasn't Elesis doing anything? Chung threw a dirty look at the red knight for not stepping in.

Elesis tilted her head to the side to see Chung sulk at the realization someone wanted to discipline him, "Is it okay to reward him every time?"

"It's better to reward a lot at the beginning before reducing them," Raven said. "I want him to get the basics first before moving onto harder stuff."

He already spent his childhood training under Helputt, he did his time. Chung didn't want to go through this again, he shook his head at the thought of undergoing whatever training Raven had in mind. Looking at Elesis for help, Chung mentally begged her to spare him the humiliation.

 _Please make him stop this nonsense…_

Raven placed a hand in front of his snout to shush him, "Do you need a walk?"

Was he growling the whole time when he said his thoughts before? Chung sank into the grass and covered his face with his paws. That's not what he wanted to happen. He wrinkled his nose when he smelled the scent of something burning and a mix of sweat.

"Heya, Raven!"

Chung looked up to see his best friend waving at Raven. The Rune Master sported an opened white jacket to display rune markings at his lower stomach, not unlike those of his sister. He walked over to look at Chung with curiosity. What was Elsword planning to do?

"He looks tired," Elsword said before turning to Chung, "Did Raven overwork you like he does with everyone?"

 _Yes!_ Chung growled. If Raven had things his way, he probably would try to make him jump through fire if he had to. Or any of those crazy tricks he saw at the circus with the dogs.

"Man, you must have pissed him off if he's making those noises," Elsword laughed. "Let me borrow this guy for an hour or two, Raven."

"I suppose we did a lot today," Raven scratched his head.

"What do you plan on doing with him?" Elesis asked her brother.

Elsword shrugged, "Probably nap if he's tired."

Chung was never more relieved than to see Elsword when he pulled him away from Raven and into a warm hug reminiscence to a kindled fire. Perhaps he was wrong in thinking Raven and Elesis would take care of him without making him work for it. As Elsword led him back into the house with an extra sandwich in hand and food for him, Chung thought maybe things weren't so bad.

* * *

Happy to escape from being converted into a military dog, he sank his head into a pillow with his snout facing the opposite of Elsword. It would have been cramp to share the room with the Rune Master if he was human, but he only took up roughly a third of the bed. The light fluffiness of the pillow coaxed him into fading out into dreamland. That is, if Elsword would let him close his eyes and rest!

"And then sis got in trouble because she wasn't supposed to give me extra marshmallows in my hot chocolate." There was a pause before Elsword added, "Or the star candies, they were good. Did you know she got to visit all these towns and cities to buy souvenirs for us and the villagers? You should have seen the size of the dried meat she brought home!"

Chung sighed and rolled his face into the pillow to muffle his groan. Elsword has been talking for how long? Elsword sat at the edge of the bed with his legs crossed, leaning over to play with Chung's ears, sometimes picking out loose hair when he ran his hand through his fur.

As expected, he didn't have a neat room. It was a cluttered mess with his clothes in one corner of the room and crushed and emptied complete recovery potions piling in the trash bin. Spell books were shoved into every space Elsword could find on the bookshelf beside his working desk.

 _You really need to do something about your room_ , Chung stared at the slight burn marks on the books' and table's edges, the faint smell of cinder lingering in the background. Was he practicing his runes on those nights when the house became unnaturally warm?

"Things got quiet after sis left, but nothing changed. She said she was coming back, but she never returned after that. I still hunted for money, which was okay, but got boring because it's always the same game. I don't think Ann was happy when I knocked over her stuff when she asked me to help. I always wanted a dog, but never found the time to take care of one..."

 _Look, you're a good friend, but can you continue your life story later?_ Chung pawed him, waving a golden paw to get Elsword's attention. _When I stop having paws for hands and I can actually talk back?_

"Elsword?" A man with eyes the color of Elder trees knocked on the door to peer through. "Can I have a minute with you?"

"Wow, it's been half an hour," Elsword stopped to open the door, "What is it, Ain?"

The priest was dressed in a fur coat reaching down to his ankles, a backpack slung across his back with his battle equipment on. A stray cowlick poked out from his roots. There was a bounce to Ain's steps when he leaned over to look at Elsword still in his tank top and at the messy room with laughter in his eyes.

"You look ready for today's mission," the Bluhen mused.

"Oh!" Elsword remembered and rubbed his forehead, embarrassed. "Let me get ready. Can you bring the dog to the front of the house? It won't take long."

"I can wait," he had a smile that was no longer reserved to only Elsword. "Treating an animal like it's another human, how strange."

Elsword said, "Make sure he doesn't run away or have anything in his mouth he's not supposed to eat."

"All right," Ain chuckled. "Don't take too long."

Closing the door behind them, Ain nudged Chung into following him. They walked down the long narrow hallway that housed everyone else's rooms, most of them unoccupied since almost everyone was out for a mission or running errands. Chung was startled when Ain abruptly stopped walking to turn to him with a smile.

"You look like you were having fun, Mr. Guardian."

 _Huh_?

* * *

"You took up so much time from Elsword that he forgot about our trip today," Ain continued. "Elsword said dogs were cute, but I'm not sure what's cute about having your teammate turn into a small animal with no thumbs."

 _HE KNEW WHO I WAS?_

Chung didn't recall giving obvious signs of being himself when the priest interrupted Elsword's tangent. It was good to know that someone at least noticed his absence to make connections, but Ain of all people surprised him.

 _How long did you know this? Do you know where Aisha is? Where is she? I need her to undo the potion effects!_

Chung felt like he had to work twice as hard to keep up with Ain, who was one of the taller members of the team. He wasn't a small dog, but he still had to do jumps in his runs when he tagged behind the priest. It would have been nice if Ain walked slower.

They were in front of the house again to wait for Elsword. Raven and Elesis were gone, but the sun was still out. It looked like Ain and Elsword were going to have a late-night mission if they chose to leave at this time.

"Wow, Ms. Elf was right. You're really chatty."

 _AIN!_ Chung jumped on his hind legs to place his paws onto Ain's knees and screeched, _HELP ME FIND AISHA SO I CAN BE HUMAN AGAIN._

Ain finally stopped walking. Startled by the sudden weight on his legs, Ain fell over, but the crash never came. Shock overcame the priest for a moment, but it only took a second or so for him to come back to his senses and hovered over the grass midway through a fall.

Chung was not as lucky when he failed to rest on Ain's lap, his snout meeting the sharp smell of grass and dirt. Ain had his feet on the ground again and gave him an apologetic look, but the twinkle in his eyes were unconvincing.

"Sorry, I don't speak dog. You should get that fixed."

 _Ugh, this guy!_

"I'm ready!" Elsword yelled from the back as he ran up to them to catch his breath. "Did you wait long?"

The redhead sported a white jacket with dozens of red belts dangling from his waist to match the big sword he wielded. Without a shirt to cover his upper body, fire runes were visible on his stomach. He had a backpack filled to the brim with potions that fell out when he lowered his head with an apologetic look.

"Not at all." Ain turned to wave at Chung, "Well, looks like we're off. Bye-bye~"

 _HEY, I'M NOT DONE TALKING TO YOU YET!_ Chung barked at the priest and snarled, _YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS WHO I AM. COME BACK HERE!_

The only person to recognize him was going to leave now? Chung couldn't accept that. He didn't want to let Ain slip by and pretend their conversation didn't happen. If being aggressive didn't work with Ain, maybe he could be persuasive with Elsword. Even if he didn't understand him.

"Is he okay?" Elsword asked with concern.

Chung caved in closer to rub his head against Elsword's extended head. A part of him wanted to hide himself in a cave when he dropped his last ounce of dignity to let out a high pitch whine to make himself pitiful to Elsword. Anything to make Elsword stay back, or at least bring him along. He was sure he could make himself useful in battle if he wanted to. Having claws and teeth could be useful.

"I'm sure the others will take care of him," Ain said. "There's always someone home and Mr. Ancient never leaves his room."

"You mean Add? I supposed..." Elsword frowned and patted the dog, "Sorry buddy, but we need to go."

So that's how it was going to be, Chung moped when those two left. Not that there was much Ain and Elsword could do for him except wait with him, but it would have been nice to have emotional comfort. It was a silly desire, but he missed being able to talk and be understood.

"There you are."

A feminine voice had Chung look over his shoulder to see a woman in violet. Like the flower, she was dark and pretty, minimal clothing stretched over her bare skin. The pink ruffles in her 'skirt' pronounced her figure, bringing out the color in her skin. The hat she wore covered much of her face, but smirk was visible on her features that lit up the room with her presence.

Whipping her axe-like staff behind her back, Aisha chuckled, "I've been looking for you. You run fast for someone who wasn't born a dog."

Chung gulped. He didn't like where this was going.

* * *

"Why am I here?" Add complained and crossed his arms, "That brat kicked me out of my own room!"

The Dominator was not thrilled to be manhandled by the mage and her assistant. He was found in his room - more like someone shook him by the shoulders and dragged him into the lab. Add pulled away to dust himself and adjust his turtleneck, but not in time for Chung to miss the scar on his neck. How long did Add have that?

"Hey!" Add let out a high pitch yelp when Aisha snagged a crystal from his hands. It was the color of azure skies in the shape of a diamond. "That's mine!"

"Angkor told me you had the last ingredient," Aisha shrugged and winked at him. "Thanks for the prize."

The demon god in question had the appearance of a barefooted child in the same color scheme as the Oz Sorcerer, orchid outlining his clothes in a sea of violet. Black bat-like wings folded down his back and he had a complexion that made Add tanner in comparison. His eyes held an unnatural glow when he heard his name.

Aisha lowered the stove's fire to a simmer. Stirring the contents with a soup ladle, the Oz Sorcerer grabbed a couple of leaves from the potted plants at the window to add to the cauldron. The potion no longer shared the same hue as the White Mist Swamp, but more of a magenta. A deep frown formed when Aisha glanced over it.

"I thought I figured out the proper amount of ginseng." She murmured as if Add and Chung weren't there, "Could it be I'm still missing a vital ingredient?"

Chung sat in the corner, as far as he could go from the smells. He was getting a migraine from all his senses messing with him. He couldn't even stay angry at Aisha for turning him into a dog when he couldn't think straight.

Add was less patient, tapping his fingers on the solid surface with his elbow resting on the workstation with his eyes half lidded. His eyes landed on shelves crammed with books, the workbenches reserved for the blacksmiths, and at Chung. Closing his eyes, the scientist breathed.

"Why is there a dog?"

There was a chill up his spine when Chung found himself in the spotlight again. His heart skipped a beat when Add looked down at him with his hands on his lap. Unlike the other members of the team, Add didn't immediately try to pet him or play with his ears. Chung was grateful for that. He was drained from the unwanted attention he had from their teammates.

Aisha asked, "Remember when I asked you to test something for me?"

A smile played on her lips, laughter in her eyes at a memory that made Add freeze at its mention. Angkor giggled when the scientist looked away with sudden interest in on the ground. For once, Add was speechless and had no snappy comeback to the dark mage.

"I don't want to," Add's cheeks turned pink. "Are you saying that dog is…?"

"Someone told me you made a cute cat," she said. "Fluffier than that ponytail you used to have."

"That someone was an idiot for telling you," Add growled.

Chung looked at Add with newfound wonder. Aisha convinced him to try something out for her too?

It wasn't that he didn't trust Aisha (Okay, so he may have been wary after the whole turn him into a dog deal.), but he couldn't begin to understand how or why a battle potion somehow led to a transformation potion.

"You owe me for taking my material," Add recovered from initial embarrassment to glare at Aisha.

"I'll pay you back," she waved it off. "Isn't my lovely presence enough service?"

Add snorted.

Taking a wisp from the potion, Aisha wrinkled her nose, but she grabbed the spoon ladle from the side for a small scoop and poured it into a small bowl. She slid the bowl over to Chung with pride.

"You're feeding him that?" Add cackled, "To think you poison dogs too."

It smelled like poison too. Chung glared at the bowl and barked at it, sniffing it again before sneezing. What was that horrendous smell coming from it? It held a distinctive scent that made him think of the herbal drinks Ara was so fond of, mixed with bitterwood and reminded him of a swamp.

"I'm not poisoning him!" Aisha placed her hands on her hips and glared at him, "For your information, this potion will one hundred percent make him better!"

It smelled like moss, but the water was rose colored, diced leaves and herbs floating in the water. It had an herbal taste when he took a sip, his stomach dropped when there was a tickling sensation from his insides.

Smoke fogged the room and caused the two humans to cough and gag. Once the smoke faded away, Chung saw pink skin and his arms were shaking, there was more weight in his body. His head remained fluffy, but his face felt raw when he touched it with his hands. Chung yelled when he looked down to cover himself with his arms with a red face. Where was his clothes?

Add saw the naked guardian and sighed, looking away to save Chung's pride. "I'll get you something to wear."

"I knew this potion would work," Aisha was unfazed from Chung's lack of clothes, caught up in high emotions for her success.

Chung hung his head in embarrassment.

* * *

 **Author notes:**

(1) - Chung's dog form is based on the Finnish Spitz breed.

Hello! This isn't my first Elsword fanfic, but it was my first time putting Chung on the spotlight and for many other characters! My interpretation of the characters may differ from the usual, so please be understanding. I had fun writing this and I hope anyone who read this enjoyed it as well.


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